Tom Robbins | Author | LibraryThing

About the Author

Tom Robbins is a writer, novelist, editor, and journalist. He was born in Blowing Rock, North Carolina on July 22, 1936. Robbins studied journalism at Washington and Lee for two years and later graduated from the Richmond Professional Institute in 1961. He attended the Graduate School of Far show more Eastern Studies at the University of Washington. From 1957 to 1960, Robbins served in the U.S. Air Force stationed in Korea as a meteorologist. During his years in the service he took courses in Japanese culture and aesthetics in Tokyo. After the military, Robbins took a job as a copy editor at the Richmond Times-Dispatch. Robbins later worked as feature editor and art critic at the Seattle Times and part time at the Seattle Post-Intelligencer. Robbins published the novel, Another Roadside Attraction in 1971. Other books include Even Cowgirls Get the Blues and Still Life With Woodpecker. Even Cowgirls Get the Blues was made into a 1996 film directed by Gus Van Sant. Robbins has also acted in such films as Made in Heaven and Mrs. Parker and the Vicious Circle. A documentary entitled, Tom Robbins: A Writer in the Rain was made in 1997. In 2014, his title Tibetan Peach Pie: A True Account of an Imaginative Life, made The New York Times Best Seller List. (Bowker Author Biography) Tom Robbins is a Southerner by birth, Robbins has lived in & around Seattle since 1962. (Publisher Provided) show less

Works by Tom Robbins

Popular Recent

Jitterbug Perfume (1984) 5,877 copies

Still Life with Woodpecker (1980) 5,786 copies

Even Cowgirls Get the Blues (1976) 5,181 copies

Skinny Legs and All (1990) 4,374 copies

Another Roadside Attraction (1971) 3,636 copies

Fierce Invalids Home from Hot Climates (2000) 3,074 copies

Half Asleep in Frog Pajamas (1994) 2,687 copies

Villa Incognito (2003) 2,188 copies

Wild Ducks Flying Backward (2005) 967 copies

B Is for Beer (2009) 450 copies

Tibetan Peach Pie: A True Account of an Imaginative Life (2014) 368 copies

Tom Robbins: Even Cowgirls Get the Blues/Jitterbug Perfume/Half Asleep in Frog Pajamas 2 copies

Tom Robbins: The visual arts, 1963-1964 2 copies

Tom Robbins Set-Villa Incognito, Still Life with Woodpecker, Even Cowgirls Get the Blues, Another Roadside Attraction,… 1 copy

Work Explorer

Associated Works

My Bookstore: Writers Celebrate Their Favorite Places to Browse, Read, and Shop (2012) — Contributor — 560 copies

Drinking, Smoking and Screwing: Great Writers on Good Times (1994) — Contributor — 336 copies

This Is My Best: Great Writers Share Their Favorite Work (2004) — Contributor — 160 copies

After Yesterday's Crash: The Avant-Pop Anthology (1995) — Contributor — 66 copies

The Collected Works of Jim Morrison: Poetry, Journals, Transcripts, and Lyrics (1996) — Foreword, some editions — 63 copies

Richmond Noir (1898) — Foreword — 56 copies

Take My Advice: Letters to the Next Generation from People Who Know a Thing or Two (2002) — Contributor — 44 copies

Even Cowgirls Get the Blues [1993 film] (1993) — Novel — 17 copies

The Best American Short Stories 1977 (1977) — Contributor — 16 copies

Natural Skagit : a journey from mountains to sea (2008) — Introduction — 13 copies

West Coast Fiction: Modern Writing from California, Oregon, and Washington (1979) — Contributor — 7 copies

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Common Knowledge

Legal name: Robbins, Thomas Eugene
Birthdate: 1932-07-22
Gender: male
Nationality: USA
Birthplace: Blowing Rock, North Carolina, USA
Places of residence: Blowing Rock, North Carolina, USA
New York, New York, USA
Richmond, Virginia, USA
Seattle, Washington, USA
La Conner, Washington, USA
Education: Virginia Commonwealth University (BA|1959|Richmond Professional Institute)
University of Washington
Washington and Lee University
Occupations: novelist
journalist
art critic
Organizations: US Air Force
Marijuana Policy Project
Agent: Phoebe Larmore (Phoebe Larmore Literary Agency)

Members

Discussions

Tom Robbins: the biggest fraud in literary history? in Awful Lit. (December 2017)

Reviews

Even Cowgirls Get the Blues: A Novel by Tom Robbins

A book I stuck with if only to say I had read it. In most ways reads like the 70s novel it is. A bit dated, a touch too wacky, and an unsatisfying ending, left this reader cold. Not my cup of tea I suppose.

½

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skid0612 | 50 other reviews | Feb 28, 2024 |

Jitterbug Perfume by Tom Robbins

I liked parts of this a lot, but some of the characters (including the narrator) were sooooo long winded. When I was younger I'm sure I would've been ape over this book, but now I feel annoyed that it all sounded like Robbins' own diatribe against death and seriousness. Nearly all the characters talk in the same voice and the message is way too message-y.

At the same time, Robbins has such a fun style and everything is so wacky it's hard not to smile when you're reading this.

And--this is totally random--when I was reading the part about the four elements, I suddenly became really upset about the band Earth, Wind & Fire. What did they have against Water? (According to Wikipedia, it has something to do with the band leader's astrological sign.)

If you're looking for an excuse to take hot baths, have lots of sex, breathe rhythmically, eat hella beets, and live forever, this book is your ticket!… (more)

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LibrarianDest | 85 other reviews | Jan 3, 2024 |

Still Life with Woodpecker by Tom Robbins

I've had a few conversations that remind me of this book: always with a fast-talker armed with cheesy jokes, half-baked notions, and conspiracy theories, salted with tasteless stereotypes, but interesting and weird enough that I want to hear just a little more. But I do always feel relief when it's over...

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mmparker | 74 other reviews | Oct 24, 2023 |